The competition for management of the Los Alamos National
Laboratory took a step forward Thursday when the final request for
proposals was released.
Though the University of California has been making preparations
to bid for management, they have been waiting for the release of
the request to make a final decision. The UC has managed the lab
since it opened in 1943, but the Department of Energy put the
management contract up for bid after recent management
problems.
The final request outlines some notable ways in which the lab
will be run differently than it has been in the past.
Under the new system, the manager will receive more than ten
times the amount of money the UC receives now, will have to assume
more risk and create a new pension plan.
With the final request out, the decision is likely just around
the corner.
“A final decision regarding the University of
California’s participation in the competition is expected to
be made soon,” UC Spokesman Chris Harrington said in a
statement.
The UC announced May 11 it would prepare a possible joint bid
with Bechtel National Inc., DWX Technologies and Washington Group
International in preparation for the bidding process.
The UC Board of Regents has the final say on whether to bid.
There have been concerns due to recent security issues and the
classified work that is conducted there. But in their March
meeting, the regents seemed favorable to the idea of continuing to
manage the lab. Several board members said their concerns had been
alleviated.
A discussion on the lab contract is on the agenda for the
regents’ upcoming meeting next week, but Harrington said it
is not yet known if they will come to a decision.
But, with the request out, “the competition is starting in
earnest,” Harrington said.
The proposals are due by July 19, which leaves the university
little time to make its final decision.
After that, the National Nuclear Security Administration hopes
to announce the lab’s new management by December 1, with the
new manager taking over operations by July 1, 2006, according to an
NNSA press release.
The lab has been operated by the UC as a non-profit venture
since the lab’s inception.
The final request contains some other changes from the way the
lab has been run in the past, most notably that it will no longer
be a non-profit venture.
“It appears that the RFP (request for proposals) is skewed
towards a corporate structure rather than a not-for-profit
agency,” said Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who represents the Los
Alamos area in Congress.
The future manager will be paid up to $79 million a year. The
current manager makes about $8 million.
The switch to a for-profit enterprise has raised some concerns,
as science may be overshadowed by business.
“I hope this requirement does not affect the science at
the lab ““ or result in an exodus of employees ““ as many
have feared,” Udall said.
But Tyler Przybylek, chairman of the board of NNSA, assured that
the lab’s status as a for-profit institution would not
compromise the science.
“Good operations and good business aren’t the
enemies of great science; they enable it,” he said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.